Northeast man to stand trial for wife's August slaying

CHRISTOPHER Murray, the Northeast Philadelphia man charged in August with killing his wife in Pennypack Park, yesterday was ordered to stand trial for her murder.

During much of the preliminary hearing before Municipal Judge Teresa Carr Deni, Murray covered his eyes with his hands, which were handcuffed.

Despite the restraints, Murray managed to wipe away tears while listening to homicide Detective Howard Peterman read the Aug. 9 statement he gave police.

Murray, whose white hair makes him appear older than his 48 years, claimed that Connie Murray, 46, the mother of his two daughters, got "physical" during an argument on the evening of Aug. 4 and he snapped and strangled her to death.

The fight, which took place as the couple sat on a bench near the Crispin ball field, was sparked by her anger over his sending text messages to another woman, the defendant said in his statement.

Connie Murray, who was born without her right arm below the elbow, became angry and started pointing her finger in his face and smacked him, Murray's statement said.

"I was holding her arms, then I just snapped," Peterman said, reading from Murray's statement.

When detectives asked if he choked his wife, Murray, who is 6 feet 2 and weighs more than 200 pounds, replied: "Yes, I guess I must have. I don't remember doing it."

Murray told detectives that the relationship with the other woman was emotional rather than sexual, and that the woman's husband was aware of the situation.

He said that after he strangled his wife, he "panicked," destroyed her cellphone and scattered the pieces in various places around the park.

Early the next morning, Aug. 5, he called police and reported her missing, and four hours later a dog walker stumbled upon her body.

On Aug. 9, Murray agreed to take a polygraph test, Peterman said.

Murray began giving a confession just before 11:30 p.m. that evening, he said.

"I am deeply, deeply sorry for what happened," Murray said in his statement. "I wish I had a time machine to go back. I wish I could just go home to bury my wife and say goodbye to my kids."

Defense attorney Andrea Konow argued that Murray should be held for third-degree murder because he lacked the specific intent to kill.

"This is clearly an argument that moved into a physical confrontation and ended in Mrs. Murray's death," she said.

Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore persuaded Judge Deni to hold Murray for trial on general murder, which will allow a jury to decide between premeditated first-degree and third-degree murder.

Pescatore said the blunt-impact injuries on Connie Murray's body indicated that she tried to fight off her husband despite having only one fully functional arm.

He meant to kill her, said Pescatore, who told reporters that strangulation "is such an up-close and personal crime that you would have to feel the life of that person actually going out of them. It's not something that takes place in seconds. It's more like minutes."